In the Garden with Pat Rubin

Bee garden writer Pat Rubin writes about everything that grows, from flowers and trees to vegetables and lawns. Pat volunteered for several years as a Placer County Master Gardener and has written about gardening for many national and regional publications. In addition to gardening, she spends time raising and showing miniature horses and miniature donkeys.

In the Garden will include news, events, advice and other gardening tidbits. Pat will also answer reader questions.

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August 20, 2007

Mesclun in the salad bowl

Two pony-paks of mesclun found their way into my flat of winter vegetables at the nursery this past weekend.

What a great idea, I thought, as I selected the nicest looking plants. I already have a spot in the garden for them, and look forward to fresh salad greens all fall and into winter.

The word “mesclun” means “mixed,” and the plants are a mixture of fancy, common and tasty salad greens. Buy a seed packet of mesclun, and it will likely contain lettuce, spinach, arugula, endive, mustard greens, radicchio and chard. Not being a savvy gardener when it comes to growing salad greens (only in eating them) I always found it hard to tell the desirable greens from potential weeds, so never trusted my judgment to thin the good guys from the bad guys.

I don’t know exactly what the various greens are that I’m planting, though I suspect the toothy-edged ones are radicchio or endive, but I know I’ll enjoy their presence in fall and winter salads.

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